Kangerlussuaq International Science Support
* KISS *

Facilities for arctic research



Updated November 1995

Location and background * Basis for Science * The Concept * Facilities * Address and Booking * Further information about KISS

Location and Background

A new initiative has been taken by the Greenland Home Rule Government in order to stimulate and attract international research interests in Arctic science. This has materialised into a new facility at the Kangerlussuaq Airport: Kangerlussuaq International Science Support, or shortened as "KISS".

Kangerlussuaq is located just north of the Arctic Circle on the Greenland West coast. It lies at the head of the 140 km long fjord Kangerlussuaq; in Greenlandic "big fjord". The climate is continental and quite xeric with an annual precipitation averaging 120 mm; winter temperature reaches down to -50 C and in summer the temperature increases to above +20 C.

Kangerlussuaq is the main hub for air traffic to and within Greenland with regular direct international connections to and from Copenhagen (Denmark), Keflavik (Iceland), and Ottawa (Canada).


Basis for Science

Kangerlussuaq has a long tradition as an important base for fielding geophysical and glaciological research projects, but so far the region has had only limited activities within the life science disciplines. The area lies on the edge of the Polar Cap Zone and the Auroral Zone. It is therefore of particular interest to scientists studying elements relating to the ionosphere and the magnetosphere as well as the lower and upper atmosphere.

The Kangerlussuaq region is within the low Arctic ecozone with diverse habitats as e.g. salt lakes, dune systems, mountain tundra and steppes with caribou and muskox populations. Caribou are indigenous but muskoxen were introduced from Northeast Greenland thirty years ago.

The plant growing season is long, featuring 150 days without snow cover, 80 continuously frost-free days, and 150 consecutive days with maximum air temperature continuously above freezing; (the numbers given are average values). The climate is very stable and predictable with a monthly mean of 241 sun hours in May through August.

The Kangerlussuaq region is a well exposed high grade basement terrain forming the southern border zone of the Nagssugtoqidian orogen. The region has a glacial landscape dating back 8,000 years.

The proximity of the Inland Ice has a significant effect on the climatic regime for the living resources and further it presents unique logistic opportunities for studies on the Ice Sheet proper, the edge zone, and periglacial geomorphology.

KISS and the Kangerlussuaq region is thus the ideal site for field courses in polar biology, Arctic ecology, geomorphological processes and geology.


The Concept

Scientists and students who plan to work in Greenland now have new and improved facilities available in Kangerlussuaq. KISS offers an array of modern facilities and possibilities to rent equipment and goods for use in the field or in the labs of the KISS building.

The KISS concept creates the general physical framework for scientific work within the natural sciences. Only basic lab equipment will be available and each specific project needing specialized equipment should therefore plan to bring it along or have it shipped up on beforehand.

KISS is owned by The Home Rule Government and operated by the Kangerlussuaq Airport Management. The handling of all bookings etc. prior to the researchers' arrival at Kangerlussuaq has been delegated to the Danish Polar Center. The use of KISS is reserved exclusively for researchers and research projects registered by the Danish Polar Center pending submission to the Center of project plans.

It is important to realise that KISS is a year-round facility and that the Kangerlussuaq region offers obvious research opportunities and potentials during the 8 winter months. This applies both to projects in biology and geophysics and the presence of KISS now greatly improves the logistics for performing field operations in winter and will increase the effectiveness of your activities as compared to more primitive logistic solutions hitherto available.

When fully operational KISS will be managed by a logistics co-ordinator who will maintain an office in the KISS-building and who will be available for answering questions and solving problems as well as acting as a liaison to the authorities and institutions in Kangerlussuaq and the rest of Greenland. Furthermore, the KISS manager will be your contact when you wish to rent equipment, vehicles, vessels, helicopters and fixed-wing aircrafts or other services of interest to you and your project. Please request price list from the manager.


Facilities

KISS offers year-round modern facilities for researchers in a comfortable building at a daily fee of 150 DKK. This price is based on the use of own sleeping bag, linen and towels. Room service (in part or in full) can be supplied at an additional cost. The 700 m2 accommodation area includes 23 single or double rooms (20m2), kitchen, lounge, laundry, showers and toilets. At the 700 m2 ground floor there will be access to wet and dry labs, working rooms, storage rooms, drying room, lounges, kitchens, workshop, telefax and local and long-distance telephone calls, photocopier, laser printer, and Internet e-mail. It is possible to establish your own phone line to existing cabling at your own expense. Use of cellular phones is also possible. There is space available for specialized equipment or labs in the building at a nominal cost.

The road system around the airport is quite extensive - for Greenland standard. Leading East to the edge of the Inland Ice is a 13 km dirt track drivable for 4x4 vehicles; to the West an asphalt road leads a similar stretch to the harbour at the fjord. It is worth noting that Kangerlussuaq is an airport isolated from the coastal towns and hamlets. It does not hold a traditional Greenlandic society but a population of c. 350 persons dedicated to run the airport and associated facilities (e.g. KISS).

At the KISS ground floor rooms or office space can be rented on a long-term basis so you have the opportunity to establish your own project office. The KISS manager can be hired to handle logistics for projects not physically present in Kangerlussuaq but which would like to draw on the services available here.

KISS will be fully operational by summer of 1995. Living quarters, dry labs, and working rooms, offices and storage rooms will be ready for use in the spring of 1994 while the wet labs will be available by June 1995. The interior of the building will have some flexibility allowing for a set-up of specialised labs.

In the KISS building all rooms and labs are equipped with both 115V and 208V/60Hz outlets.

In Kangerlussuaq you can buy regular, canned or freeze-dried foods, fuels (jet fuel/kerosene, gasoline, and field stove alcohol). There is also a post office, an airport hotel with restaurant and cafeteria, a gym center with swimming pool, a tennis-, badminton-, racket ball- and soft ball court, a bowling alley, a rowing club, a non-scientific library, - and also a small museum with exhibitions about the history of Kangerlussuaq.

Kangerlussuaq also hosts a modern conference center capable of accommodating up to 250 people. The conference facilities and prices are very competitive so you should consider placing your next scientific conference or symposium in Greenland.


Address and Booking

The KISS address is: KISS, P.O. Box 109, DK-3910 Kangerlussuaq. You should use this address for mail to visiting researchers and for shipping goods and equipment for projects. You can connect to KISS directly at phone +299 11107 ext. 6451. For further details your are recommended to contact the KISS manager or the Danish Polar Center.

Please contact the Danish Polar Center to obtain the KISS booking form and information sheet. For swift communication and transfer use e-mail address: hth@pops.dpc.min.dk, phone +45 32 88 01 00 / direct line +45 32 88 01 20, telefax (+45 32 88 01 01). The mailing address for the Danish Polar Center is: Strandgade 100 H, DK-1401 Copenhagen K, Denmark.

During the summer season (June-September) the KISS manager is located in room 101/201 in the KISS building and can be reached at phone: +299 11107 ext. 6451 /fax +299 11472. During the low season (October-May) the KISS management is located in the Kangerlussuaq Airport Administration building, attn. Ms. Mette Bjerregaard (phone +299-11300; fax +299-11360).

When calling from abroad, please note the time difference to Greenland

The KISS manager's office is also the place to contact when you are due to pay for your stay or rented equipment/services. The office does accept payment in cash (Danish currency only), by EuroCheque or Traveller's Cheque, and by the following credit cards: AmericanExpress, Dankort, Diners, EuroCard, MasterCard, and Visa.


Further and detailed information on KISS

Further and detailed information on KISS and Kangerlussuaq is avaible in the booklet "Welcome to KISS", compiled and edited by the Danish Polar Center.

Download ASCII file with the text of the booklet (42 Kb.)

To order a free hard copy of the booklet, e-mail the Danish Polar Center:
hth@pops.dpc.min.dk


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